Helene hit Savannah with hurricane-force winds as it passed through Georgia

Hurricane-force winds toppled trees and knocked out power in the Savannah area Friday morning, even though the center of what had weakened into Tropical Storm Helene was more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of the city.

This came as no surprise to weather experts.

“Typically the right side of a hurricane is stronger and usually more dangerous,” Georgia state climatologist Bill Murphey said in a telephone interview Friday. “That’s exactly where you were.”

As the storm spun counterclockwise Wednesday morning, the Savannah area came into the path of strong Atlantic winds that blew unhindered onshore, resulting in some of the strongest Helene winds in Georgia.

“The friction over land gradually slows the wind as you move inland,” said Jonathan Lamb, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Charleston office.

Gusts of 76 mph were recorded at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport at 3:51 a.m., according to the weather service.

Winds of 70 mph were recorded on Skidaway Island at 2:56 a.m. and on South Tybee Island at 4:26 a.m. Fort Pulaski experienced gusts of 68 mph at 4:36 a.m

Across the state line, gusts of 75 mph were recorded at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort at 4:20 a.m. Hilton Head Island Airport had high winds of 53 miles per hour.

After the storm: Hurricane Helene’s winds are blowing debris and trees across Savannah’s streets as cleanup efforts continue

Wind shear — which occurs when the current changes direction — is also common in the northeast quadrant of a landfalling tropical storm, where the Savannah area was located, Murphey noted.

Because of this, the National Weather Service determined there is a high chance of tornadoes in Chatham and surrounding counties late Thursday and early Friday.

“With a landfall and tropical system, it is rare for the Storm Prediction Center to increase the tornado risk this high,” Murphey added.

The concern turned out to be justified. At one point Thursday evening, there were seven simultaneous tornado warnings in the Savannah area.

“If you see the outer bands that are far from the center of the circulation, there’s a really strong energy in those bands where because of the big shear they can bring down a quick little spin-up tornado, and then they can have a do a quick job for damage,” Murphyy explained. “I’m sure the weather service will be busy afterward examining the damage just to figure out whether it was caused by a tornado or not.”

Helene’s outer bands dropped more than 3 inches of rain across the Savannah area Thursday morning, while the center of the storm was still hundreds of miles south of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“It’s amazing that there was so much rain when the center was so far offshore,” Murphey said. “It was such a big storm.”

Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, around 11:10 p.m. ET on Thursday with winds of 140 mph, making it the first known Category 4 storm to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since records began earlier this year met in 1851.

The storm maintained hurricane strength for several hours as it moved inland over northern Florida and into Georgia. As of midday Friday, the National Hurricane Center said Helene was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 45 miles per hour.

As of midday Friday, the storm was 30 miles southwest of Bryson City, North Carolina, and 105 miles northeast of Atlanta.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment on Georgia’s coast. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or [email protected].

Helene hit Savannah with hurricane-force winds as it passed through Georgia

ByJasper

By Jasper

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